Bear in mind

Danny byrd must limit his tunes highly ( say -4/6db mix master) before sending off to the master, yeah? to achive that sound, which, is louder in comparison, but seems more so due to clever compression. correct me if i m wrong. i know comp does add a decent addition when used correctly, but the release has to be very fast due to the nature of DNB.?

I will start an in depth thread soley on compression after this has been answered to, to help old and new producers alike.

in other words, let the GORDO or ODDROG talk. ez
You know who you are..............

as we said in the mastering thread, this tricks will only improve a tune a tiny bit. If the mix is crap, is not gonna happen. Limiting etc will only make it mushy. if you play your tunes out try different settings until it sounds decent. same if you sending tunes for mastering, send a few different versions, clean, compression, limit and compression, and see the reactions from the ME.

btw, theres people on this board that know their shit much better than me..!

Why should you master something before sending it to mastering? Because that's what youre doing if you slap a limiter on your master channel -> hence the name, mastering. Processing your master channel seems kinda pointless to me, I'd let the mastering engineer do that since they usually are professionals.

And when it comes to loudness and peaking in pre-mastering phases, don't worry about it. If your tune sounds quieter than Danny Byrd's but the meters are still close to red, it's completely normal. If the tune is not loud, a pro mastering engineer can push it up without problems, they'll do a million times better job than you. If you don't know what you are doing dont do it, as opposed to producing and making your ideas to tunes. Rule of thumb, dont compress/limit master, and never hit red on your meters.

Then there's the question of sending demos, is the a&r person intelligent enough to ignore loudness differences between tunes and if they fathom the wisdom to reach for a volume knob. But that's a whole another matter then...

All wise words! I think the benefits of compression are so small but they're one step close to a tidy mix. Speaking of mastering! Is there any key points you should take into mind before sending a track off? (ie. How do you know when your track is finished?). peace out

Key points: Don't limit, compress or otherwise process your master channel. Leave it alone. Also pull the master level down until your peaks (the loudest clicks) are between -3 and -6 db. It sounds quiet but it gives the mastering engineer room to work, and believe me they will be much more thankful for that than you trying to sound as loud as you can and then send it out.

Great advice all round, but that last one is a big no no.
When you reduce the master volume, all you do is reducing the resolution, ie the bit rate. Leave the master at 0, and pull down everything else.

Great advice all round, but that last one is a big no no.
When you reduce the master volume, all you do is reducing the resolution, ie the bit rate. Leave the master at 0, and pull down everything else.

Click to expand...

Sound advice.

though...

I'm not really talking -10db or such, just minor adjustments. in 24bit resolution 1bit stands roughly for 6db. So even if you reduce the master -5db you'd still have the full 24 bits of resolution, and even -11db would still use 23bits. It only becomes an issue if you have to reduce it a lot. I'm saying -30db for example, but that should make some alarms going off that there is something wrong in a mixdown.

btw this is all snatched from a thread on DOA from a mastering engineer, here if anyone's interested dwelling deeper into this area. This Macc guy offers some relatively cheap mastering services too.

yes, it wouldnt make a huge difference, but why do it on the first place ? its just a bad habit.
Cleaning your ears with a knife is possible, but it doesnt mean its to be done...
Dont be afraid to build a mix from the beginning. Pull all the faders down, bring your kick up to minus 12 to 10 dB, and start building from there.